Tour Report: No. 79: Graham DeLaet

To preview the 2013 PGA TOUR season, PGATOUR.COM is counting down the Top 100 Players to Watch in 2013. For an archive page with the top 100 players and for an explanation on how the list was compiled, click here.

2013 PREVIEW: Graham DeLaet, who has won four times on PGA TOUR Canada, held first-round leads twice in 2012. Putting four rounds together and contending will be a goal for the upcoming year.

2012 DEFINING MOMENT: Maybe it was the newly minted beard, but DeLaet was at his best when the pressure was highest during the FedExCup Playoffs. He entered the series ranked 106th and finished three events ranked a career-high 53rd — thanks in large part to a tie for fifth at The Barclays where he played the final four holes in 4 under. –- Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

ALBERS’ QUICK TAKE: What a great year for Graham. He had back surgery in 2011, played in just two events and had to wonder how his back would hold up in 2012. It held up just fine. The Canadian played a full schedule with 23 events and won more than a million dollars. He possesses lots of power; at 304 yards per drive DeLaet is 13th on TOUR in distance. — Fred Albers, SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio

BOLTON’S FANTASY OUTLOOK: Needed only 18 of his 26 allotted starts via a medical extension to secure fully exempt status for the remainder of 2012, and then topped out at a career-high $1.051 million. Reminds me a lot of Martin Laird. Both are lanky, international mashers off the tee and fearless with their irons. DeLaet is only 11 months older, too, and will turn 31 before the fourth event of 2013. His back, on which he had surgery in early January of 2011, may sideline him from time to time, but I’m endorsing in all formats. He owns the kind of firepower that you want to ride. — Rob Bolton, PGATOUR.COM Fantasy expert